Three members of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) Expert Advisory Panel for COVID-19 vaccines have stepped down.
The resignation comes soon after the Board granted approval for the use of the Chinese vaccine, Sinovac, on Friday.
Immunologist Dr. Rajiva de Silva, Virologist Dr. Kanthi Nanayakkara, and Respiratory Physician Prof. Channa Ranasinghe have stepped down from the eight-member committee.
According to the Sunday Times, in their resignation letter, the experts have cited the reason for their resignation as the disregard of the NMRA Board for the advice of the Vaccine Advisory Panel and overruling of scientific opinion.
On June 9, the panel, which has been continuously riddled with troubles, had been split in half at an urgent meeting to decide whether at least 2 million doses of Sinovac should be approved for use in Sri Lanka.
The full panel is reported to have “agreed” at that meeting that Sinovac is the “least effective vaccine” against the Delta variant, as no data had been submitted at that time, which may very soon be the dominant variant in the country.
One group had said that “limited” approval with conditions should be granted to import a limited stock of Sinovac to be administered to a population which could be followed up, while the other group had disagreed.
Meanwhile, the Sinovac documents had also clearly stated that after six months of receiving Sinovac’s two doses, a booster would also be required.
On the other hand, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has granted emergency-use listing (EUL) for Sinovac.
The global vaccine initiative, COVAX, has said that it would secure stocks of the vaccine, from around the world.
However, some countries have already commenced re-thinking the usage of the vaccine. (NewsWire)